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Jetstar Japan sells one-way tickets for ¥1 each

One of the latest budget airlines to enter and compete in the Japanese market has used a marketing gimmick to get attention, selling 10,000 one-way tickets for ¥1 each on six domestic routes.

The two-hour campaign was part of an opening strategy promotional blitz for the low-cost carrier’s domestic service launch, which begins on July 3rd. Jetstar is a joint venture between Qantas, Japan Airlines (JAL) and Mitsubishi Corp. The six routes are Narita-Sapporo (New Chitose), Narita-Fukuoka, Narita-Osaka, Narita-Naha, Osaka-Fukuoka and Osaka-Sapporo.

Celebrity Becky, who is Jetstar’s campaign girl, attended a news conference with Jetstar officials in Tokyo to announce the opening airfares. The regular one-way airfare on the Narita-New Chitose route, for example, will be ¥4,590. Jetstar’s entry into the domestic market is the latest chapter in a bid to open up a market that has traditionally suffered from high prices because of dominance by two major carriers, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA).

Jetstar Japan, affiliated with Japan Airlines, will start domestic flights in July by linking Narita International Airport outside Tokyo with Okinawa’s Naha International Airport, Kansai International Airport near Osaka, New Chitose Airport in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido, and Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan. Details about the routes and airfares will be announced later this month.

Japan’s major airlines have long been behind global rivals in terms of entry into the low-cost sector, but ANA last year set up budget airline Peach Aviation with a Hong Kong investment fund. Flights began out of Osaka in March. ANA has also tied up with Malaysia’s AirAsia to launch AirAsia Japan in August.

Jetstar Japan President Miyuki Suzuki tells reporters that the carrier intends to set its fares 40 ~ 50% lower than conventional levels. The company said it also plans to offer short-haul international services to key Asian cities starting in 2013. The Melbourne-based carrier operates routes throughout the Asia-Pacific region, including between Australia and Japan. Since the start of this year, the Jetstar Group has announced 36 additional weekly international flights to-and-from Japan.